Chapter 345: Reason

Even though Kaleb had run out of power, Michael and the rest were more than enough to deal with the remaining two opponents.

Thaor charged toward the Berserker with the Titan Arm Soultrait, while Lokai and Mekhaz focused on the Berserker wielding a humongous black sword.

Mekhaz focused on countering the humongous Sword of Doom by altering its trajectory with great precision. Since he had fought the Berserker with the Sword of Doom Soultrait a few times before, he knew how the Berserker would move and how powerful the Sword of Doom was. It could cut through most metal armors, which included Mekhaz's Living Armor. Mekhaz didn't dare to get hit by the Sword of Doom, but that was even more reason for him to act carefully and forcefully divert the Sword's trajectory with his spear.

Meanwhile, Lokai focused on inflicting damage to the Berserker. But she was not alone. Michael appeared next to Lokai with dozens of Glacicles and six Qi Swords revolving around his body. The freezing mist of the Glacicles was even stronger than usual thanks to the decrease in temperature Kaleb's attacks caused. The entire combat ring was freezing cold, enhancing the Glacicle's power and freezing effect.

Combined with enhanced Qi Swords, Michael could inflict several deep cuts all over the Berserker's body while also aiming the Glacicles to pierce into the freshly inflicted wound to freeze the Berserker's flesh. As a result, the Berserker groaned in pain, but he couldn't move away. Lokai was to his right side, throwing her mace around like a mad woman, while Mekhaz blocked his Sword of Doom no matter how he moved.

Michael conjured more Glacicles and Qi Swords. He also shot forward with the intent to inflict some damage with the Wyverntooth Spear. But that was not even necessary. After the second batch of Glacicles and Qi Swords hit the Berserker, Lokai and Mekhaz had overwhelmed him. The referee lifted one of his hands, announcing the Berserker as dead. In the next instance, Michael, Lokai and Mekhaz charged toward the Berserker with the Titan Arm Soultrait.

Thaor was fighting him with all his might, but his opponent retaliated with great fervor. None of them was strong enough to overwhelm the other party, resulting in a stalemate until Michael and the rest arrived.

A few seconds after everyone arrived, the Titan Arm Berserker lost.

"Victory goes to the team Best Mix. Congratulations for advancing to the next round!" The referee announced after a few seconds.

He stared at Michael and the others with newfound interest. None of the members of Michael's team had been defeated, while every single one of the Berserker team had been eliminated more or less easily.

Most Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs knew how strong their brethren were. They fought each other at least once a week. Everyone knew that Thaor, Lokai and Mekhaz were roughly as strong as the Berserker with Herculean Strength, and the Berserker with Double Impact. Yet, the two Berserkers and the Warlock Centaur overwhelmed their opponents in today's battle. In fact, Mekhaz and Lokai were feeling so pumped that they could continue to fight a few more battles before they would tire out.

Thaor was a little tired but his stamina replenished rapidly just like his origin energy. A little bit of rest and he would be overflowing with energy once again. Only Kaleb was completely drained. However, solving that was not a mission impossible either.

The referee regained his composure and glanced over to the VIP section where the Chieftain and War Priestess were located. It was then that understanding dawned upon him.

'I finally understand what he meant. I get it.' He thought, recalling something the Chieftain said a long time ago.

Berserkers were innately against using greater numbers to defeat their opponents. The Chieftain always lamented his past self because he thought that it would reward him with more honor and glory if he fought against his enemies in a one versus one battle. It was even better if their enemies had a numerical advantage because every Berserker and Warlock Centaur was told that winning a war against the odds would reward most glory and achievements.

In the minds of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs strength was all that mattered, not numbers, or petty tricks. They would rather restrain themselves to fight fair and square than taking advantage of others - even if the other party was their nemesis. The two war-loving races were certain that they could gain more honor and glory for their people that way.

They were certain that more achievements waited for them in the Origin Expanse if they followed that mindset until death. But was that really the case? That question was something the Chieftain had asked in the past.

Why would they fight 'fair and square' against the Tekur, who were endangering their livelihood by infiltrating the Lumina Stellar System? If they couldn't force the Tekru into retreat, the Lumina Stellar System would get conquered by the Tekur race, and the Warlock Centaurs would be annihilated as an aftereffect.

Was it really a good idea to fight fair and square for the sake of honor if their races faced potential extinction? In the first place, was it really unfair to combine their forces and overwhelm their enemies with numbers, or trickery? Was it honorless to make use of their numerical advantage, or to exploit their knowledge of their territory to surprise attack their enemies with their tremendous physical strength?

Wasn't it more humiliating and honorless to intentionally restrain their strength to fight fair and square and somehow be responsible for their race's annihilation? Wouldn't it be far more respectful and honorable to use their full power and everything at their disposal to fight their enemies, no matter how weak or strong they were? Using their full power against everyone and saving their home was an act of respect.

That was something the Chieftain always thought, but the traditional values that had been engraved deep into the heart and soul of the old Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would lead to the never-ending inner conflict. The Chieftain might be the strongest Berserker, and the leader of the Berserker race, but that didn't mean he possessed all the power. Even as the Chieftain of the whole race, he had to respect and honor their age old traditions, values and ethics. Disregarding their teachings was equivalent to disrespecting them, and everything they stood for.

Thus, the Chieftain had been forced to find a way to communicate and spread his inner thoughts subtly to everyone...and he decided to use the Battle Exchange to achieve that.

The Battle Exchange was mainly created to work against the Tekur race and combine the forces of the three races within the Tritan Alliance to pick the strongest prodigies and nurture them before the Flag War started. However, it was also a way to get to know the traditional values of other races, to learn that the world was not only black and white and that many questions had more than one answer.

Therefore, the Chieftain was satisfied when he saw that a mixed group emerged in the Team discipline. It was the first time that the Berserkers accepted humans in their team, and vice versa. Usually, they would have issues with each other, and there wouldn't be an ounce of teamwork between the humans and Berserkers. The combat style differences were simply too huge, just like the traditional values of an individual race that applied to a battle.

But the mixed team in front of them had found a way to make it work.

It was obvious that Thaor, Lokai, and Mekhaz weren't too pleased that Michael and Kaleb supported them throughout the battle against their opponents, but they also respected their power and insightful comments. Spending a week with Michael, and a few days with Kaleb was enough to tell what was on their mind during a battle.

Michael defeated both Thaor and Lokai because they underestimated him at first. Michael made clear that this kind of action was disrespectful, and that it was not something an honorable Warrior should do. Honorable Warriors were supposed to unleash their full strength against their opponents. The only exceptions were training lessons and other unique circumstances. Other than that, fighting with full power was a necessity to show respect to your enemy.

And what could be better to show how much they respected their opponents than combining their powers to unleash even more power?

Michael used this type of - more or less - fucked up logic to convince Thaor, Lokai, and Mekhaz to use their full power and combine it with the aid given by Kaleb and him to overpower their enemies. It worked out somewhat fine, but there were still a few major points Michael wanted to improve.

Fortunately, they had more than enough time to improve further.

That was also what the Chieftain was hoping for. He continued to watch the mixed team, hoping that they would improve further and that the victories of the mixed team would attract more attention - possibly even curiosity.

Meanwhile, Alice didn't know what to think anymore. She was baffled at Kaleb's display of power, and that was not because his strength had increased by leaps and bounds. That was not the case. Her surprise was because Kaleb's fighting style was completely different than what he had been taught.

Alice taught Kaleb meticulously to ensure that his means of attack and defense would be as advanced as possible. Kaleb's mastery of Frozen Nova was still rather low because the Soultrait was layered like an onion, and way too powerful to be fully controlled by a Tier-2 Lord, but his offensive techniques and defensive measures were quite good already.

But in today's battle Kaleb revealed himself as the core component of the team by taking charge of the battlefield, controlling everything precisely. For a moment, Alice saw glimpses of herself in Kaleb, his style reminding her of the time when she was younger and using Frozen Kingdom. Her Soultrait had a large area of effect, something that could be well utilized to control the battlefield. However, Alice never expected that Kaleb would use his Soultrait the same way she usually used Frozen Kingdom.

Their Soultraits were of a different type. So why would he change his way of fighting all of a sudden?

That was already enough to baffle her. But there was something she couldn't understand at all.

"Michael...has an Ice Soultrait?"